Friend II
by little.artist
Summary: 'Was it wrong to look through something as private as a diary' But then the image of his best friend mocking him for keeping Oturan washed over and the urge to snoop in on Sakura's thoughts overwhelmed him. 'Screw it.' he thought, And he began to read.


**Friend II**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

One-shot

"Sakura, get off me."

"But—"

"Now."

Her mouth twisting into a grumpy frown, Sakura leapt off her friend's back, pink hair bouncing lightly. Ignoring the few glares other girls sent her, she laughed and reached up to pull on his hair. Too bad she was so much shorter Sasuke didn't even have to try to push away her out-stretched hands. Smirking as the pinkette whined in protest, the silent teen turned on his heel and started walking.

"Hey!" Came the indignant yell from Sakura before, once again, Sasuke was tackled from the back. "Just because you're taller doesn't mean I can't reach!"

At this, Sakura jumped up and managed to grab a lock of his hair, successfully pulling him down with her as she, as Sakura would, slipped on air and tumbled to the ground.

Gasping with laughter, once again, Sakura felt daggers directed in her direction. No doubt from the hundreds of fan girls who prowled Sasuke's front lawn on the weekends.

At fifteen years old, the younger Uchiha was already the school heartthrob, constantly under the watch of senior females and respected by junior admirers. So, being his best friend made things a little…dangerous for her at times.

Still giggling from her clumsiness, Sakura watched as Sasuke pulled himself up and glared down at her with raised eyebrows. Faltering in her glee, she forced herself to look sheepish before pushing herself off the hard concrete. Wincing when she felt her knee crack, she made sure it was still stable—then grinned again, eyes reduced to slits due to her wide mouth. Sasuke gave her a little smirk. A shiver ran up her body, like every other time he gave her special treatment.

"So…who's place after school?"

"Mine."

"Okay! I'll get some cardboard from the art room and…oh yeah, the glitter."

"That's not necessary."

An evil smile spread across her lips and Sakura took the dive.

"You own glitter Sasuke-kun? I never knew you were that kind of person."

"Hn..." A twisted glare. "…shut up…and bring the stupid glitter."

So straight after school Sakura ran to the front gate, a big, green cardboard under her arm and a tube of glitter wedged in the pocket at the side of her bag. Sasuke was already waiting, rolling his eyes slightly as she stumbled and nearly whacked a junior over the head with the edge of the cardboard.

"Be more careful," the dark-haired boy told her as a disgruntled male senior shot her a dirty look, rubbing his arm. "Let's go."

Starting off in the direction of his house, Sakura struggled a few more seconds with her cardboard before following the retreating male.

The walk home wasn't far, only fifteen minutes, but you try doing that whilst nearly running to keep up with a tall best friend (who didn't glance back, mind you) and lugging a big piece of hard paper cardboard behind you. Not easy. When Sasuke finally stopped in front of his large mansion gates, Sakura couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Waiting patiently as the black gates were pulled back (automatically, of course), the handsome male finally looked back to see Sakura puffing with the extra weight of the cardboard.

"Sakura, give it to me."

With not enough energy to be stubborn and too tired to roll her eyes, she handed it over. Sasuke easily slipped the cardboard under his arm and continued his way up the small hill that led to the large front garden which finally connected to the front yard.

Pressing the intercom, he glanced back again at his companion.

Sakura was inspecting the front lawn, biting her lip as she waited nervously. Her shoulder-length hair was down and a red ribbon kept most of her locks away from her face. Green eyes looked up slowly to meet his and the two locked in a strange staring contest. Until the door swung open to reveal a maid, smiling sweetly at Sasuke before raising her eyebrow at the pinkette.

_Not again…_

* * *

"So all we have to do now is the border and fill in the last of the question sheet and…we're done!"

"Hn."

"Okay, I'll go wash the glitter off, then we can pack up."

"Aa."

The small pinkette jumped up from her position on the floor and skipped to the adjoining bathroom. Sasuke watched her carefully and snapped back to reality at the noisy sound of tap water running. Picking up the large green poster (now with glitter!), the Uchiha looked for a suitable place to put their assignment for the next week. Spotting a small space on the bookshelf, he picked his way around the various tubes of paint, glitter and glue.

Clearing away all the junk that piled its way up, he carefully placed the cardboard in an upright position. Then he frowned. Sasuke realized he had junk that piled its way up on the clean carpet of his room.

Grunting as he bent down to pick up the rubbish, the teen nearly jumped and hit his head on the ceiling when suddenly, Sakura was next to him, voice raised and light green eyes enlarged.

"Sasuke!" she leapt up to him and snatched something small off the pile. "I cannot believe you still have him! Seriously—? How long where you going to keep denying it?"

Shocked at her accusing finger, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the object in her hand. He felt his entire being heat up…and that wasn't normal.

Sakura's eyebrows rose high on her forehead as she glimpsed a slight pink stain on the Uchiha's face. Then, she smirked. It was irking and very irritating to say the least.

"Hn… I forgot about it. Must've… been there for a while."

The pink-haired girl did not reply as she let the evil grin die on her face, replacing it with a softer, kinder expression. The object in her hand seemed to smile back at her, regardless of the state it was in. After so many years, Oturan appeared to not have changed a bit. Besides a few more dirty scratches and one ear completely missing, something about the fact that Sasuke hadn't thrown him away tugged softly at her heart strings. Oturan wasn't just a precious play toy…he was a symbol of their friendship.

"…Well," she finally spoke. "I'm really glad he's still here."

She looked up at Sasuke, but this time, when their eyes met, she didn't break away. The two were once again, locked in an impossibly intense staring contest. Sasuke felt his eyes burning into her skin, feeling as if they could dig deep enough into her skull to read her thoughts. His own thoughts were buzzing noisily. They didn't quiet down, even as she broke the gaze—by that time the roaring in his thoughts was almost unbearable—Sasuke opened his mouth, but nothing came out—what was wrong, why was he feeling a little too warm all of a sudden?—Why was she avoiding his too dark eyes?—

Why—?

Not one of them knew what happened, but when maid from earlier burst into the room (after an incredibly fast tap on the door), Sakura was kneeling on the floor, face as pink as her hair and Sasuke stood at the edge of his bed, hands behind his back.

"Sasuke-sama!" The brunette maid gasped. "There is a phone call…" He quickly dropped Oturan to the floor and then moved to get the device sitting atop his bedside table, intentionally ignoring the curious look on the brunette's face. "…for _her_."

Sakura looked up from her spot on the ground surprise written across her face. _Who would call her through Sasuke?_

"It's your mother."

Sasuke stood with one hand in his pocket, holding out the phone with his right arm. A scowl marred his face and it was completely obvious that maid's interruption was pissing him off. The brunette however, couldn't be happier as she asked him if he wanted anything to drink. Sakura struggled to keep her face straight when he politely declined then kicked her out of his room, shutting the elegant door in her pouting face.

"Hi mum, why are you calling Sasuke's number? Is something wrong?" Sasuke watched carefully as Sakura clutched the phone to her ear. In reality, he wasn't looking _at _her—more like through her. What was that? Sasuke's mind was elsewhere and he clutched his hand into a tight fist. His heart had now returned to its normal pace but the adrenaline and urges that had swarmed him just moments before was still fresh in his head. "Sasuke…Sasuke?"

Hearing his name, the Uchiha's far-off eyes snapped to the pinkette, frowning as Sakura nodded and said her goodbye. Hanging up, she glanced up at his stiff form sheepishly.

"Erm…" she began, twiddling her fingers together nervously. "My mum wants you to come over…now?"

"Hn."

* * *

"Sasuke, dear—thank you so much for coming over! Sakura has such nice friends!"

"It's nothing."

Mrs. Haruno beamed and giggled girlishly as she turned to face her newly decorated living room. Sasuke smiled slightly and politely excused himself, heading down the hallway expertly, turning at the last room. SAKURA was spelt out in large letters over the front door and the dark-haired man rolled his eyes.

Knocking on the door quietly, he entered without waiting for a reply. Sakura was sitting at her desk, seeming to not have heard him at the door. Smirking quietly, Sasuke sneaked up behind her and gave her neck a little tickle.

"Sasuke!" Came the squeal and he backed up when Sakura turned around to glare at him.

'Hn. What are you doing?"

"N-Nothing!"

Dark eyebrows raised curiously as the pink-haired teen thrust her hands in front of her, covering the small booklet she was writing in. Sasuke grunted and began to pry her crossed arms from the table. Unfortunately it was like trying to remove Karin away from his side as Sakura stuck fast. _Super glue_ the teen confirmed before giving up and scoffing at his friend's childish manner.

"Whatever."

Sakura frowned at his bored tone and opened her mouth to reply with something witty—until her mother interrupted.

"Sakura! Come down quickly! I can't decide between rose or teal for the sofa pillows!"

Sakura sighed and carefully got up, eying her best friend warily. She quickly flipped closed the small notebook in her hands and pushed it deep into the bottom drawer of her table. Her green eyes flashed with a knowing glare and Sasuke knew if he so much as _looked_ at the drawer, the Haruno family would be having roasted Uchiha for dinner tonight.

"Coming, mum!"

Running down the hallway, Sasuke counted to three before shutting her room door meticulously and bending down to open her drawer.

His back cracked unappealingly and the dark-eyed man groaned. Mrs. Haruno had him move almost everything in their living room, from the large black sofa to the cute bookshelf. Damn Sakura's dad for having to work late tonight. Sometimes the young Uchiha wondered how his best friend managed to get him to do stupid things like helping her mother redesign a whole room—and having to move everything with little help at that.

Retracting his hand, Sasuke eyed the green notebook Sakura had been writing in. Neat writing scrawled at the very top of the first page confirmed his suspicions—it was a journal.

Ignoring the small voice that insisted he put down the private book, Sasuke slowly flipped through the pages, desperately trying to kill the guilt erupting in his chest. Sakura's writing, he noticed, wasn't as neat as he thought. At some points, her writing was so horrible the dark-haired teen had to squint to make out the cursive print. Turning to the latest page, Sasuke finally paused in his prying.

_Wasn't it wrong to look through something as private as a diary?_

But then the image of his best friend mocking him for keeping Oturan washed over and the urge to snoop in on Sakura's thoughts overwhelmed him.

_Screw being considerate_ he thought, delving back into the book. Picking a random paragraph, he began to read.

'…_I talked to him for a while, and not once did he interrupt! It just felt so great to get it out of my system! Sometimes I wonder why I even put up with him, but then I remind myself; it's because I love him…'_

Black eyes widened at the last words and Sasuke would never admit this; but his heart seemed to pump a thousand times faster. _Sakura loved him?_ It must've been a mistake—she couldn't have…did she? Scanning the last of her words, Sasuke felt his heart fly as the paragraph continued on, describing what a great person he was—what he looked like in the sunshine; with his dark hair and golden eyes and—WHAT? Skipping back to the descriptions, Sasuke felt his chest throb as his heart jumped back at him and buried itself under his skin. Last time the Uchiha checked, he had _dark _eyes.

Quickly skipping ahead, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the words that followed—

'…_golden eyes and cute freckles! Knowing him for so long, I never realized how great it was to have a friend like him. To have a friend like Ryuu.'_

RYUU? WHO THE HELL WAS RYUU? AND WHY WAS HE SHOUTING IN HIS MIND? WHY WAS HE BREATHING SO HEAVILY? WHY WAS HE—

"Sasuke?" Sakura's confused face peered a him around the doorway and before he knew it, Sakura had snatched away her journal, furiously furious anger directed at him through her green, green gaze. "What the hell were you doing with my diary?"

Choosing to ignore her raging accusations, Sasuke asked a question of his own.

"Who's Ryuu?"

Despite his calm tone, the teen knew that somewhere in there, his voice had just cracked. Sakura however, took no notice as her face turned even redder from embarrassment and _more _anger.

"How dare you," she started to screech. "Reading my diary and then accusing me of having a secret affair or something! Ugh, Uchiha Sasuke—"

"Are you?"

This shook the pinkette as she stopped halfway through her ranting, breath ragged. Then, she hissed.

"What?"

"Are you having an affair with this Ryuu guy?"

Sakura practically had steam pouring out of her ears by then—she couldn't believe him!

"Sasuke, what the eff is wrong with you?"

"_Are you?_"

"NO!" she roared, flinging the green book across the room, straight at his face. Dodging the flying object, Sasuke set his mouth in a firm line, settling for his earlier question.

"So who is he then?"

"HE'S MY FRIEND!" Not calming down, Sakura didn't stop her heavy breathing and shooting death glares his way as Sasuke barged on with another infuriating question.

"_Boy_friend?" He hissed, the word tasting foul in his mouth.

She finally cracked.

"NO! HE'S—HE'S IMAGINARY!"

Well, well, well.

* * *

Sakura sat on the edge of her bed; cheeks still red, no matter how desperately she tried to calm herself down. Sasuke was next to her, ONLY a metre apart. He however, Sakura noticed, had the smallest, tiniest smirk on his handsome face. If Sakura didn't know the Uchiha as well as she did, she would have thought he was embarrassed too. But no.

"So—"

"Shut up."

"Hn. But—"

"Sasuke…" Her green eyes narrowed as his eyes darkened with mirth. "If you say one more th—"

"How's," a small chuckle erupted and he asked again. "H-How's Ryuu?"

The Uchiha couldn't hold it in any longer and let a loud chuckle out, ignoring Sakura's furious expression until—until she lunged at him, teeth bared and hands outstretched.

"Whoa—!"

The heat immediately burst on his cheeks as Sakura's clumsy attack had them both on the carpet floor, her hands against his chest and his on the small of her back. No words were exchanged as Sakura froze in her position the exact time they both realized what was going on. Not that they _could_ exchange words.

Sakura pulled away first, leaping about five metres away from him and began rubbing her hands up and down her arms, biting her bottom lip nervously. Sasuke was stunned to the bone and his eyes hardly left her as he sat up slowly, carefully. Sakura snapped to life and took her leave, disappearing into the hallway, no doubt to sink to the floor in disbelief at what she had caused.

The dark-haired teen licked his lips slowly and shook his head. His right hand came up to rub his eyes. _There was that feeling again. What the hell was happening to him…?_ As confused as he was however, Sasuke couldn't help but let a grin—yes, a _grin_—come across his face. He just kissed Sakura. _He just kissed Sakura._

* * *

If anyone asks about what had happened that day at the Haruno residence, they would immediately be submitted to the most torturous pain known to man. No joke.

A few brave men did take up the challenge to _ask_ the Uchiha about what had conspired between what seemed like the permanently red-faced couple—but they were never seen again.

Unfortunately for the said dark-eyes man, no matter how hard he tried to erase the _embarrassing _memory, he could ever deny what had happened…

_Sakura returned to the room, but she wasn't as red, or as shy, as Sasuke had anticipated. Actually, he nearly feel to the floor again when the pinkette entered the room, a smug smile on her face. He of course, ever the passive and stoic male, kept his smirk in place. Neither seemed to acknowledge what had just taken place in that very room._

"_So," the male began, positive his question would silence Sakura's mischievous smile. "Any other IMAGINARY friends I should know about?"_

_He reaction was definitely NOT what he was expecting. _

"_Now, now Sasuke, no need for you to tease me like that…" His smirk died a little, sensing Sakura's triumphant aura. She continued: "…besides…I don't want you to get jealous again."_

_He felt his whole face heat up and 'hned'. But Sakura was taking none of it as she strolled up to him, and as nonchalantly as she could, gave him another small peck to the lips._

_Then, Sasuke really did fall to the floor. He didn't get up._

So. Number one rule these days when talking to the Uchiha: Never, EVER, question him about golden eyes.

* * *

**A/N: **I am so sorry for posting this story so late :( Busy times...anyway...I'm not 100% happy with this sequel. Sorry about the long drag and the lack of romance, but I really didn't want them to end up being a couple straight away. Well, hope you had fun with Sasuke being jealous! Review please, I want to know all you thoughts!


End file.
